Bridget Moynahan Talks About Being a Single Mom

Actress Bridget Moynahan talks candidly in the new issue of Harper's Bazaar about her son Jack and becoming a single mom.

Some highlights from the interview

On bringing Jack home from the hospital:
“Everyone says, ‘You give birth, you go home, and you have this amazing baby and it’s just beautiful. And I walked in and I just started sobbing. All of a sudden, you have this newborn you have no training for. It’s frightening.”

On adjusting to motherhood:
“I have become that mother I used to dread. Every time he does something, you think he’s a genius. He’s totally a genius.”

On finding herself going it alone as a single parent:
“I’m not sure anyone -- and I could be wrong in this -- grows up thinking, I want to be a single mom.”

On her breakup from Jack's father quarterback Tom Brady:
“Going through that traumatic time of being heartbroken and then being pregnant turned my whole life upside down and inside out and just knocked the wind out of me. But I got so much out of that. It’s golden and it’s tough and it was f’ed up. But now I have a child, and it’s the best thing in the world.”



On deciding to face the challenge of being a single mom:
“You really have to weigh out all the pros and cons and how it will fit into your life professionally, spiritually, and emotionally. Doing it on your own when it wasn’t expected comes with a lot of fears and anxieties. But I felt 100 percent that I could do this.”

On telling her parents about the pregnancy:
“When you’re suddenly pregnant and no one is standing by your side, even if you’re in your 30's, it’s a hard conversation. I’m a traditional girl, and I believe in marriage, and I just always thought that’s the way I’d be doing this. For a moment, it was hard for me to accept that this was the way I was going to have a family. I’ve had to recognize that there are just so many different options today.”

On enjoying her pregnancy:
“Being pregnant just felt so good. I was creating life on a daily basis, I felt beautiful, I felt sexy.”

On future family plans:
“I think it’s important to have a strong male figure in my son’s life, and I want something equal to that in my life, as a partner, a lover, a friend. But I’d rather be alone [than] with somebody who doesn’t work. I don’t need that, and my son doesn’t need that.”

On dating as a single mom:
“It’s brought higher-quality people into my life because whoever is going to be [with me] understands straight off the bat that it’s a package. If you just want to hang out and have some fun, there are a thousand other girls who are willing.”

Source: Harper’s Bazaar